This is the last I have written. This is it for a while.
It was a few weeks ago that Mihawk realized that he need to learn the fine art of…
Hair styling.
Kai's waist-length hair wasn't anymore, and it wasn't because it had been cut. The locks were so tangled and matted it looked rather like a rug hanging from Kai's head, not hair. The child himself couldn't reach it all with the brush, and Mihawk didn't think he could trust anyone else to do it. He cut his own hair, and Kai refused to let him cut it.
Great.
He is twenty-eight years old, and male! Why the heck does he have to learn to do hair of all things? He is a strong young man, a master of swordsmanship-
Who has a crying little brother.
That's not good.
The hair brush had gotten stuck in the mess that was Kai's hair. Mihawk gently worked it out. It took a while.
This isn't working.
*\_/*\_/*
"Hello, and welcome to Bernette's Barber Shop! We serve anyone, from pirates to Marines! All we ask is that you don't start any fights in the shop! How can I help you?" the overly perky man asked.
An obviously stressed man held out a crying child. The poor thing's hair was covered in mats and tangles, and there were even comb teeth stuck in there. "Teach me how to take care of this! I don't care how much it costs, I can't deal with her being upset anymore! She won't let me cut it, and it's starting to hurt her!"
"Oh my gosh! That's horrible! Here, my name's Stevie, and I will definitely help you learn how to take care of her hair! Bring her this way! What's her name?"
"Her name is Kai." The pirate looked very relieved. "It was very sudden, I don't know what I'm doing with her."
"Don't worry! You'll be a pro in no time! Here are the washing stations. Just set her in that chair and lift her hair into the basin. See? She's calming down- what the-?!"
*\_/*\_/*
"Well now, that was interesting." Stevie muttered as the pirate left with the, now much happier, little girl.
As the, rather intimidating when not upset, man had gotten the girl settled, her hair had changed abruptly from a blue-gray color to a dark green and she stopped crying. It was then that the hairdresser had recognized the pirate as the Shichibukai Dracule Mihawk, and the little girl had his eyes.
Mihawk was a man known for never showing his emotions, so it was probably the fact that his whole body showcased his relief that had thrown Stevie off.
"Oh, thank god, she's stopped. She's been crying for three days now." That would explain it, yes.
"Well that's a good thing, yes? Now, first you rub conditioner through the hair like-" He was cut off by a hand appearing over his, and the conditioner plopping into the pirates hand instead of his own. Stevie was startled and jerked his head up.
That… was a very scary glare.
"Just tell me what to do."
"O-oh, y-yes, that will be enough conditioner then! Gently massage it through her hair, try not to miss anything. It's best if you cover your hands with the… yes, like that. Um, use your fingers to comb through the tangles, start at the ends. Just tease the knots out."
During his instructions the girl's hair changed to yellow and she fell asleep. It took about 45 minutes before all the mats were gone and Mihawk was able to rinse the soap out.
"Here, dry her hair as much as possible with this, it will still be damp, but that's a good thing! It will be easier to comb and style…" As he talked, Stevie noticed that the pirate was very gentle with the child; she didn't even wake up. It wasn't quite what came up when he thought of the Shichibukai. He'd thought that if any of them had kids, they wouldn't be very good parents; or at least they'd be pretty rough. This was proving quite untrue.
"Now follow me and I'll teach you how to style it. You might want to wake her up, she's going to need to sit in this chair. I can teach you how to braid it, and to also…"
He was shot another evil glare before the pirate quietly woke his child. When the sleepy toddler was sitting up, Stevie guided Mihawk through the steps.
*\_/*\_/*\_/*\_/*\_/*
It had been a nice day on Kuraigana (meaning it didn't rain). And now Mihawk was suffering for it.
He had taken Kai out to the castle grounds to get some fresh(er) air.
And he found a mud puddle.
Not knowing what mud was, or how many diseases could be in it, Kai went wild. Head-to-toe, covered in mud, he was a walking mud ball. Mihawk didn't notice in time and ended up with slime down his shirt.
"Ugh. Kai why do you do this? Crazy brat. You better not have swallowed any." Said brat just gave a happy grin, and what hair could be seen under caked on mud was gold.
"Anata o aishitemasu!"
Mihawk stilled. I didn't teach him that. Did he really just say that?
"Ore wa anata o aishite iru ani!"
He did… Ignoring the mud, he brought Kai to his chest and hugged him as tightly as he could without causing pain.
"Ore mo anata o aishitemasu."
*\_/*\_/*\_/*\_/*\_/*
Kai was tucked into bed, muddy brown hair pulled away from his fever-flushed face. A halfway melted ice pack covered his forehead and a worried (though you wouldn't be able to tell) Mihawk hovered at his side.
"There has to be someone nearby, I'm no doctor… Wasn't there a report that Whitebeard was in the area? He has nurses…" He took the idea and ran with it. Soon Hitsugibune was in sight of the Whitebeard fleet.
Hitsugibune is a very recognizable ship, so the only precautions he took was exchanging his black flag for one with a message.
*\_/*\_/*
"Hey, Pops! Mihawk's ship is in sight! He's got a white flag up though!"
Those in earshot stopped incredulously.
"Mihawk?"
"With a white flag?"
"Are you sure?"
"Gurarara!" 'Pops' laughed.
The old man known as Whitebeard glanced up at his son and asked "Is there anything else on the flag? Gurararara! He probably just wants something! Look again!"
The watchman took another look through the telescope and stared. "It's got a red cross on it and a question mark? What does that mean?"
"It means he needs a doctor for something! Wave a flag, let him close! I'm curious now! Gurarara!"
*\_/*\_/*
Hitsugibune pulled up beside the main ship of the fleet. The ones who volunteered to pull him up saw that he was uninjured. Weapons came out quickly.
"Stop."
Mihawk pulled the bundle he was holding closer to his chest as it whimpered under the killing intent. "I need a doctor."
The heavy atmosphere let up as a nurse pushed past everyone without a care about the very sharp weapons surrounding her.
"Give it here! What's wrong with it, how long has it been like that, give me the child!"
"What?!"
*\_/*\_/*
"He'll be just fine Hawk-eyes. He only has the flu, whatever you were doing helped quite a bit. It's almost over already."
The man pulled his hat over his face to hide his sigh of relief. It didn't help; the hat didn't hide his shoulders.
"So Hawk-eyes, when did you procreate?" Mihawk stiffened again at Whitebeard's question.
"I didn't."
"You were awfully worried about a stray brat then, gurarara!"
"Just because I'm not his father doesn't mean he's not my kid."
"Oh? You adopt?"
A glare was sent in the direction of the question. "He's my brother."
"Hah! Not much of a brother! How come you're calling a girl your brother?"
Everyone turned to the angry nurse that had spoken.
"It changes sometimes."
Back to Mihawk.
"And what does that mean? You're forcing a girl to be a male? Did you not want a sister?!"
"That's not it."
"So what is it?! Because that's disgusting if you-"
There was a slam as the med-bay door was forced open. "Kanya! I thought you said the child was a girl! That was not a girl that I just bathed!"
The nurse whirled around to gape at her friend.
"That's what I meant. Their gender changes quite often." Mihawk was stoic as he walked past the nurse who had accused him, moving to the med-bay and pulling a small dress out of a bag that had previously gone unnoticed.
He walked back out with a sleeping child. He still had brown hair, and was wearing the dress Mihawk had brandished. It was more of a nightgown now that it was being worn.
"Thank you for lending me your nurses. I am grateful."
He smoothed down the damp brown hair and left after changing the sail of Hitsugibune.
"That was very odd."
"Pops? Are you okay?"
"Gurararara! Never better! GURARARARARA!"
*\_/*\_/*\_/*\_/*\_/*
*Kai's POV*
"Mi-onii?"
Big brother Mihawk is sleeping. I wonder what's in the big bottle that he was drinking? He seemed to like it…
I toddle over. I can't wait to be big like Big Brother Mihawk! He's so graceful, and he can always catch me when I fall, even when he's across the room! Hopefully he'll teach me! He's just so fast!
The bottle is sitting on the floor. I pick it up and sniff it.
EWWW! IT SMELLS GROSS! Maybe it tastes better? I know some foods do…
NOPE!
This, whatever it is (sake? Sake, yeah, that's what Mi-onii called it) is absolutely nasty! And it burns my throat!
This can't be good for Mi-onii! He shouldn't drink it! It's gross, it smells bad… and now that I think about it, big brother Mihawk looked sick when he drank it! His cheeks turned red, weren't mine red when I had the flu?
I'm going to find all the gross bottles and pour them down the sink! They're not good!
With red coloring my vision, I find every bottle filled with the nasty liquids (There's more than one type? Why?) and dump their contents down the drain.
*\_/*\_/*
*Back to normal*
Mihawk grumbled as he returned to consciousness. It had definitely been awhile since he had drank that much. Taking care of a kid was hard work, he'd had to wait until Kai was asleep to drink any alcohol; he didn't want to teach his little brother any bad habits. He reached for the sake bottle…
It was gone.
That woke the swordsman quicker than anything.
Mihawk shot up and searched frantically for the bottle that he knew was there when he fell asleep.
Still not there.
Oh no.
Then the very distinct sound of an emptying bottle reached his ears. He knew it by heart since he chugs the stash regularly.
It was coming from the kitchen.
"Kai!" He blurred in that direction, almost hitting a few walls in his haste. Shouldn't have had that much. Then he stopped.
The floor was covered in bottles. There were some he'd hidden in high places, and ones he knew were in his room before scattered around the room, completely empty.
Kai was standing on a chair, holding his nose, as he poured an expensive wine into the sink. As Mihawk stared, the bottle was shaken to get every last drop out and another was grabbed as it fell to the ground.
There were only four left.
"KAI!"
The man snatched the wine out of Kai's hand and tucked it under his arm while Kai went into the other. "What are you doing!?"
"Mi-onii!" The child startled, "You was asleep!"
"That doesn't answer my question. What were you doing with this?" he shook the wine bottle in front of Kai's face, keeping it out of reach when the little face twisted in anger.
"That's bad drink! It's gross, smells bad and makes Mi-onii sick! No bad drink!"
"...What?"
"Is a bad drink! Makes Onii-chan sick! Go bye-bye! Down the sink!"
Mihawk tried to stay angry. That alcohol had cost so many beri! But… "You called me onii-chan."
Kai was confused. "Isn't Mi-onii Kai's onii-chan? Mi-oni is Kai's frère, and is older than Kai! So he's Onii-chan! Right?"
Mihawk stayed frozen before melting.
Kai became even more confused when the Hawk-eyed man he called family gently set the bad bottle on the counter and pulled him up higher into the warmest, tightest hug he had could remember receiving. Mi-onii isn't mad anymore… He returned the hug, throwing his arms around his Mi-onii's neck.
Mihawk buried his nose in soft, strawberry-smelling hair as it darkened into a deep red, relishing in the sensation of tiny arms wrapped around the only part of his body that would fit into them besides his legs.
"Onii-chan is just fine."
*\_/*\_/*\_/*\_/*\_/*
They're learning.
Children are very resilient. I would think that a child that doesn't remember anything useful would latch on to someone who shows some care. Before anyone goes reviewing about how Kai acted before, when he was scared of Mihawk, just know that he has amnesia, Mihawk probably looks terrifying to small children, and kids are reliant on emotions and body language to tell them about people. I remember that as a kid I always gravitated towards kind people who would be able to put up with me.